In a closely fought election, NDA candidate and JDU member Harivansh Narayan Singh was elected as the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson, defeating opposition’s BK Hariprasad. As the voice vote remained inconclusive, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu called for the division of votes in the House.

After the voting, Harivansh Narayan Singh emerged as a winner with 125 votes, while Hariprasad got 105 votes polled in his favour.

Soon after the announcement, PM Modi went to Harivansh Narayan Singh to congratulate him on the win. “I congratulate Harivansh ji on behalf of the whole house. He has been blessed with the talent of writing. He was also a favourite of former PM Chandra Shekhar ji,” PM Modi said.

Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad also congratulated Singh and expressed hope that as a Deputy Chairperson, he will pay heed to the objections raised by the Opposition and won’t be partial towards the NDA government.

The post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman had been lying vacant since the retirement of PJ Kurien on July 1.